Posts tagged with "LEDs":

Dutch product designer David Graas started with this premise: what if the cityscape as we know it were literally flipped upside down? His answer is a collection of 3D-printedlight bulb covers shaped like some of the world’s glitziest skyscrapers. Suspended from the ceiling, these so-called "Stalaclights" appear at once disorienting and enchanting from the impression of icy stalactites descending from the ceiling like tiny cities floating untethered in mid-air.
Designed to fit over LED bulbs, which are more energy-efficient than incandescents and have a nearly heatless surface, the Stalaclights are inspired by the 1920s art deco era when skyscrapers began mushrooming in major cities such as New York and Chicago.
Each cover is loosely modeled after a famous building and includes the complete wherewithal for ceiling installation, including a 5.5 watt LED bulb, lamp holder, ceiling cap, and 8.2 foot cable. Larger light fixtures such as a pendant lamp can be fitted with the "Huddle," which features a clump of jostling tall buildings which appear to glow with light from within. The regular-sized covers retail for $210 apiece from Layers in Design, excluding tax for non-EU purchases.

A luminous, arched pavilion in Ohio aims to highlight the potential of 3D fabrication techniques, and to so it's mounting a Promethean stunt. The so-called Solar Bytes Pavilion grabs sunlight during the day and radiates light when it gets dark, recreating the day's solar conditions minute-by-minute throughout the night.
Brian Peters helped found DesignLabWorkshop in 2008, eventually settling in Kent, Ohio. Their latest project is the Solar Bytes Pavilion, a continuum of 94 unique modules (“bytes”) 3D printed in ceramic bricks covered with white, translucent plastic. Peters and his team then put solar-powered LEDs in each of the bytes, snapping them together in a self-supporting, arched pavilion just big enough for a few people to huddle inside.
3DPrint.com got some detail on the fabrication process:

...he used a 6-axis robot arm located at the Robotic Fabrication Lab at Kent State. A hand welding extruder, called the Mini CS, was attached to the robot arm to serve as the 3D printhead, and it extrudes plastic material in a sort of FDM-style process. The technology, provided by Hapco Inc. and called BAK/DOHLE, is employed by universities, government agencies, and concerns like the University of Michigan, Oak Ridge Laboratory, the US Department of Energy, and the University of Tennessee.

Nike has covered a basketball court in Shanghai with LED sensors and the result looks like a live-action video game. The court is called the “House of Mamba”—not to be confused with the new “House of Vans” in London—and it's topped with reactive sensors that track players' every move.
The House is part of Nike’s “Rise Campaign,” which the company described as “the first social basketball documentary drama in Greater China to inspire young people with a passion for basketball.” The House opened this summer with an appearance by Kobe Bryant, for whom the stadium gets its named—“House of Mamba” plays off Bryant’s nickname “Black Mamba.”
Gizmag has a helpful breakdown of how exactly this court works: “It has a wooden base layer platform to provide a natural bounce, followed by a layer of over a thousand 2 x 2 ft (0.6 x 0.6 m) interlaced LED screens, a layer of thick glass on top of the screens and an adhesive basketball surface that provides bounce and grip covering the glass layer.”

High intensity design coupled with low energy consumption makes these new lighting fixtures worthy candidates for inclusion in a full spectrum of environments: hospitality, office/commercial, retail, and residential. Some are unabashed focal points, others play a supporting role in the design, but all of them boost the aesthetic wattage of any interior.
Global LightingZero Beam Pendant
A mounting stem facilitates directing the 26W CFL lamp, which is shielded behind a matte acrylic diffuser. Made of painted aluminum, in white, black, or red. Designed by Johan Carpner.
Antonio LupiRiga
As a suspended fixture or a wall-mount installation, this minimalist light is made to measure. Offered in satin grey aluminum. Designed by Massimo Broglio.
USAI LightingBeveLED
Small yet powerful, this fixture delivers more than 1,000 lumens at 20 watts from a compact 1½-inch optical aperture. LEED and Title 24 eligible.
ILEX Architectural LightingChroma
This bulbous pendant by Christopher Poehlmann continues his work in organic modernism. In polished aluminum and several matte and glossy painted finishes, it is offered with several lamping options.
BlackbodyEnvol
Designed by Camille Paillard, this Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) fixture consumes only 90W of power. The lamps are ultra-thin (.08 inches/2mm) and are heat and glare free.
FlosString Lights
Suspended overhead, the cord plays with interior space, while conical or spherical luminaires mark points in the air. LED lamps. Designed by Michael Anastassiades.

Work wrapped up this summer on Bittertang Farms’ installation at Ragdale, the nonprofit artists’ community in Chicago’s North Shore suburbs, and true to its plans the straw amphitheater springs forth from a lush hillside in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Designers Michael Loverich and Antonio Torres of The Bittertang Farm won $15,000 earlier this year to erect the 102nd Ragdale Ring—an ongoing design competition for temporary outdoor theater spaces in north suburban Chicago. Based in Mexico City and New York City, the designers evoked the theater’s bucolic setting with straw-filled tubes of biodegradable material.
Dubbed Buru Buru, Bittertang’s amphitheater creeps up from the soil with straw wattle tendrils. Wrapping around a framework of trusses, it forms a pentagonal opening whose womb-like quality is only enhanced by LEDs that illuminate the interior at night.
Buru Buru’s organic elements are more than a formal nod to fuzzy ideas—the structure is actually meant to entwine with its natural habitat over time. In addition to sheltering actors and activating the rolling hills of Lake Forest, Buru Buru is also a substrate for growing grasses and mushrooms.

Rotterdam Centraal Station's relationship to the existing urban fabric called for different treatments of its north and south facades.

To call the commission for a new central railway station in Rotterdam complicated would be an understatement. The project had multiple clients, including the city council and the railway company ProRail. The program was complex, encompassing the north and south station halls, train platforms, concourse, commercial space, offices, outdoor public space, and more. Finally, there was the station’s relationship to Rotterdam itself: while city leaders envisioned the south entrance as a monumental gateway to the city, the proximity of an historic neighborhood to the north necessitated a more temperate approach. Team CS, a collaboration among Benthem Crouwel Architekten, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten, and West 8, achieved a balancing act with a multipart facade conceived over the project’s decade-long gestation. On the south, Rotterdam Centraal Station trumpets its presence with a swooping triangular stainless steel and glass entryway, while to the north a delicate glass-house exterior defers to the surrounding urban fabric.
Team CS, which formed in response to the 2003 competition to design the station, began with a practical question: how should they cover the railroad tracks? Rotterdam Centraal Station serves Dutch Railways, the European High Speed Train network, and RandstadRail, the regional light rail system. Team CS wanted to enclose all of the tracks within a single structure, but they came up against two problems. First, the client team had budgeted for multiple freestanding shelters rather than a full roof. Second, this part of the project was designated a design-construct tender in which the winning contractor would have a high degree of control over the final design. To work around both issues, Team CS turned to an unusual source: agricultural buildings. “We started to come up with a project built from catalog materials, so efficient and so simple that any contractor would maybe think, ‘I’m going to build what they draw because then I can do a competition on being cheap, and then I don’t need to [reinvent] the wheel,’” explained West 8’s Geuze. For the spans, they chose prelaminated wood beams meant for barns and similar structures from GLC. They designed the five-acre roof as an oversized Venlo greenhouse. It comprises 30,000 laminated glass panels manufactured by Scheuten. Integrated solar cells, also provided by Scheuten, produce about one-third of the energy required to run Rotterdam Centraal Station’s escalators.

The north facade of the station continues the glass house theme. “We [took] the roof and we pull[ed] it over to the facade and made the entire elevation out of that,” explained Geuze. “What is on the roof becomes vertically the same. In plan you see a zigzag sort of meandering facade.” By day, the glass reflects the nineteenth-century brick architecture characteristic of the Provenierswijk neighborhood in which the station is located. At night, the relatively modest entrance seems almost to fade into the sky, except for a slice of white LED lettering over the passenger portal.
Rotterdam Centraal Station’s south facade, by contrast, is self consciously extroverted. The entryway, which spans 300 feet over the subway station, was given a “very sculptural identity,” said Geuze, with a triangular mouth framed by stainless steel panels. ME Construct welded the 30-foot-long panels one to another to create a non-permeable surface. Within the steel surround are horizontal glass panels (Scheuten) through which the vertical interior structural beams are visible. “This plays beautifully with the station because the roof makes a triangle. The horizontal and vertical lines are a beautiful composition within,” said Geuze. Two reminders of the 1957 central station, demolished to make way for the new iteration, make an appearance on the south facade. The first is the old station clock. The second is the historic sign, restored in LED. “They are in a beautiful font, blue neon letters,” said Geuze. “We put them very low on the facade, the letters. The font became a part of the identity.”
While its preponderance of glass and stainless steel marks it as a contemporary creation, Rotterdam Centraal Station was inspired by historic precedents, like Los Angeles’ Union Station and the European railway stations of the 1800s. Geuze spoke of the interior’s warm material palette, including a rough wood ceiling by Verwol that bleeds onto the building’s south facade. “We thought we could learn a lot [from history] instead of making what is totally the [norm] today with granite from China,” he said. “We have to make a station which is part of this tradition of cathedrals, where the use and aging is relevant and interesting.”

Doug WheelerDavid Zwirner Gallery
537 West 20th Street, New York
Entry limited to 6 people at a time
Reservations to view the exhibition are available, 212-517-8677
Through April 5, 2014
When you enter the immersive Doug Wheeler installation at David Zwirner Gallery, it’s like daybreak. A domed space with a flat apex meets the horizon with a hidden line of LEDs that shed light in a gradual, two-minute cycle in what the artist calls a “rotational horizon work.” The effect is like looking into a clear blue sky, that on closer inspection has subtle gradations that change as the earth revolves. The floor is the same color and is coped so you are slightly off balance as you advance and retreat towards this unreachable horizon.
The acoustical possibilities are as tantalizing as the visual. If you stand at the epicenter, the acoustics are as soaring as a cathedral. We clapped hands, rubbed fabric, and using an iPhone, played music and noodled on an app synthesizer. Placing the phone on the floor or waving the device around made for a delightful experiment.
One of the pioneers of the “Light and Space” movement in Southern California in the 1960s and 70s along with James Turrell and Robert Irwin, Wheeler originally devised this piece for Leo Castelli’s gallery in 1971 but it was never built. The title deconstructs the work’s history: LC 71 NY DZ 13 DW, or Leo Castelli 1971 New York David Zwirner 2013 Doug Wheeler.

In his school project, Puzzle Facade, Spanish designer Javier Lloret decided to transform the exterior of an Austrian museum into an interactive piece of architectural entertainment: a giant Rubik’s Cube. Lloret wirelessly connected a 3D-printed handheld cube to a laptop responsible for controlling colors on the facade of a nearby building roughly shaped like a cube: the Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. The building proved to be an ideal canvas for the project as it was already furnished with an LED-lit media facade.
The cube is equipped with electronic components enabling it to keep track of its orientation and subsequent rotations. The data is sent wirelessly via Bluetooth to a nearby laptop which runs software specifically designed for the project. The software enables the building to change color each time the handheld interface-cube is moved and twisted.
Solving your own Rubik’s cube is difficult enough, but the 3D-printed controller for this larger-than-life version of the game presented even more challenging obstacles. The cube is white, making it harder for those who have memorized the color pattern of a regular Rubik's cube to solve the game. Moreover, due to the location and nature of the building, the player is only able to view two facades at the same time, which increases the difficulty in solving the puzzle.
Javier Lloret developed this project as part of his thesis at the Interface Culture master program at the Universitat Kunstlerische and Industrielle Gestaltung Linz.

First proposed in 2011, Brooklyn's Silent Light installation has finally become a reality. Located at the intersection of Park Avenue and Navy Street under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) in Red Hook, the series of gates frames a pedestrian walkway that passes through an area of heavy vehicular traffic. The structures are covered in LED lights activated by surrounding noise from cars to create fleeting light shows of various colors and patterns.
The project was conceived and executed by Valeria Blanco, Shagun Singh, and Michelle Brick who together form the Artists Build Collaborative. The trio collaborated with the Department of Transportation's Urban Art Program, the Brooklyn Arts Council, and the Red Hook Initiative to fund, construct, and install Silent Lights.
The arches are intended to provide nocturnal aid to pedestrians navigating a potentially hazardous stretch of sidewalk. More broadly, the Collaborative hopes that by dramatically visualizing the issue, the installation will call attention to problems of noise pollution that plague the neighborhood by virtue of the BQE.

In the midst of Greenbuild's International Conference & Expo, held from November 18–22 in Philadelphia, AN sought out the newest and most innovative sustainable building products. We found attractive new finishes and furnishings, including a new chair derived from carbon polymers, and a plethora of building components that aim to harness the Earth's energy for optimal building performance.
Green Roofing Xero Flor America
This vegetated green roofing solution (above) rolls out in a mat system for easy application, as well as rapid access for repairs. Each 40-inch wide panel is comprised of a root barrier, drain mat, water retention fleece, growing medium, and pre-vegetated layer of sedum. Also known as stonecrop, each order is grown in one of Xero Flor's six regional fields, so living roofs are acclimated to the installation environment and contribute to local LEED credits.
Ecoflex Mortise Lock Assa Abloy
The Ecoflex Mortise Lock runs on only 10 Watts of energy, whereas standard electrified locks draw nearly twice the wattage. Used as a stand-alone electronic access control or in conjunction with a wall reader, the reduced power draw cuts operating costs and its actuator reduces the risk of failure from voltage drops.
BasotectBASF
Basotect is made from an open-cell melamine resin foam, a thermoset polymer that does not contain mineral fibers. It is comprised of 99 percent air for maximum sound absorbancy and low density (read: lightweight) in corporate, education, civic, and institutional applications.
Smog-Eating TileBoral
Suitable for both commercial and residential applications, concrete roofing tiles feature an embedded finish that converts nitrogen oxide from the air into inert compounds. For a recommended 3-inch headlap, approximately 89 tiles will cover 100 square feet. Six colorways are available in three profiles.
Fleece-BACK PVC Membrane Carlisle SynTec Systems
To bolster durability and the PVC membrane's puncture resistance, a layer of fleece backing adds thickness up to 135 mils and improves wind-uplift performance when bonded to an adhesive. Specified as part of a comprehensive roofing system, the membrane can help contribute to LEED points, as it did on the South Terrace of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
AirRenew CertainTeed
CertainTeed's new gypsum board features embedded air purifying technology that captures formaldehyde and other aldehydes, converts them into inert compounds, and stores the particulates within the board for 75 years. Water-based acrylic and epoxy paints or breathable wallpaper will not affect efficacy, and AirRenew can be recycled at the end of its useful life.
Enverge Cavity WallFirestone Building ProductsFirestone adapted its polyisocyanite roofing technology and its insular properties for the vertical surfaces of a building with the Enverge Cavity Wall system. When combined, a suite of products—including a continuous insulation exterior wall insulation, air and vapor barrier, and thru-wall flashing—stops thermal bridging and optimizes building envelope performance according to ASHRAE standards.
Reveal GlassGuardian Industries
Guardian Industries' switchable glass features an interlayer of liquid crystals laminated between two sheets of glass that, when exposed to an electrical current, reconfigures floating molecules into a transparent grid pattern that appears clear to the naked eye. When the system is off, the molecules rest in a disorganized, natural state that lends opacity to the glass. The line is available in any of Guardian's color offerings, standard textures, and Berman Glass editions.
1630 SS ISOKawneer
Kawneer addresses the growing frequency of high-impact weather systems with a curtain wall designed to withstand hurricane and tornado conditions. The system has withstood blast mitigation testing, ASTM testing, and met building code standards for Florida's hurricane-prone Miami-Dade County, all with a reduced U-factor to meet current energy code demands.
Grazie with AirCarbonKI
KI's Grazie stacking chair was reimagined in a bio-based polymer(above)—AirCarbon—from California-based Newlight Technologies. A patented production method isolates carbon molecules from naturally occurring chemical compounds, converts them to a liquid state, and bonds them with polymers for a carbon-negative thermoplastic that can be substituted for oil-based plastics.
BenchmarkKingspan
Panels finished in ACM, MCM, ceramic, brick, and more feature polyisocyanates to eliminate thermal bridging, and a built-in vapor barrier for an air-tight building skin. Kingspan has developed EPDs for all Benchmark panels, which are also UL listed.
MagnaShadeMechoSystems
Mechosystem's interior daylight management—in both manual and automated systems—is available in lengths as long as 40 feet for uninterrupted glare and heat gain mitigation, and the elimination of light gaps. A slim profile on the 6 1/2-inch housing cassette can be installed flush within a ceiling or soffit, or wall mounted.
PermaLED Area LightOsram Sylvania
Operating at 90, 140, or 200 Watts of power, the PermaLED luminaire for outdoor use generates a 57 percent energy savings when compared to HID lamps. Available with a standard photosensor or a dual-technology motion and photocontrol sensor, the latter provides up to 10kV surge protection.
SPEEDHIDE zeroPPG
This topcoat paint contains no VOCs, formaldehyde, crystalline silica or ethylene glycol. Anti-microbial properties also help inhibit growth of mold and mildew on paint film. SPEEDHIDE zero is GreenGuard Gold certified and meets standards for California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD).
Harmony Sherwin-Williams
Once this interior acrylic latex paint dries, a propriety chemical compound neutralizes aldehydes in the surrounding environment without the presence of a catalyst. Harmony, and 50 percent of Sherwin-Williams' paint offerings, have been certified GreenGuard Gold and contribute to LEED points under Version 4 revisions.
ThermaCork Eco Supply
Made from the bark of the quercus suber tree, ThermaCork features the inherent dimensional stability, water resistance, fire retardant properties, and acoustical isolation of cork, without additives. To form panels, the sap of the cork bark, or suberin, is heated to a liquid state and, once cooled, binds particles in place. The panels can also be applied as insulation.

A web-like dome in Saginaw, Michigan changes colors to reflect the level of carbon dioxide in the air. Solar-powered LED lights connected to an onsite CO2 monitor illuminate the structure’s fibers in timed patterns to create the appearance of an organic response.
On display in Saginaw’s First Merritt Park through October 31, the installation is part of the Great Lakes Bay Region’s “Art and Sol” celebration of art, culture, and science.
The structure of Loop.pH’s SOL Dome was inspired by molecular biology. SOL Dome, eight meters in diameter, was constructed on site by volunteers over three days.

The other day, AN revealed details of Fentress Architects' new Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX, with its arched, light-infused spaces and fancy new retail offerings. Variety takes a closer look at LA- and Montreal-based media company Moment Factory's contribution: a series of interactive displays, including an 80-foot LED “Welcome Wall” that greets visitors, two “Concourse Portals” consisting of 10 video columns that respond to movement, and the 72-foot "Time Tower," a four-sided LED experience surrounding the terminal’s main elevator. The system, which can be updated and adapted, is the most sophisticated of any in the country. And the production, as you can see from the video above, rivaled that of many motion pictures.
In other airport news, we plan to head over to Long Beach to see the renovation of several of its airport concourses, part of a $140 modernization plan. We'll keep you posted.